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Origins gallery exhibition to connect its artists through shared experiences

Discover a common thread with the Chilliwack Community Arts Council’s next exhibition, Origins Feb. 17 to March 20.
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This image by photographer Mehtap Kizilirmak will be on display at The Art Room for the two-person exhibition

Discover a common thread with the Chilliwack Community Arts Council’s next exhibition, Origins, featuring artist Anne Vivier-Manceau and photographer Mehtap Kizilirmak.

On display from Feb. 17 to March 20, this avant-garde exhibition connects the life experiences of this artistic duo through their own distinct mediums and styles.

Originally from the city of Caen in France’s scenic Normandy region, Vivier-Manceau immigrated to Canada in 2011 after falling in love with the ideals of modern Anglophone culture. A free-spirited artistic soul, her work is inspired by various historical movements — it dives deep into the past, combining inspiration from prehistoric cave paintings and the geometric forms of the Art Deco movement. Vivier-Manceau’s pieces, created with oil pastel on paper and canvas, represent decorative tapestries visually woven together into works of balanced, deceivingly simple art.

A fellow immigrant originating from Istanbul, Turkey, Kizilirmak is a professional photographer who honed her skills as an apprentice to well-known Turkish photographers, Hasan Huseyin and Blagoy Toprakidis, before forging her way with a number of high-profile national and international companies and magazines such as Peugeot, Renault, Cilek Mobilya, Elle Turkey, and Moda Turkiye Interactive Fashion Zine. Kizilirmak’s pieces represent her inner struggle as a foreigner re-establishing her roots in an unfamiliar home. The vivid colours combined with haunting imagery convey a sense of tension between past and present sources of inspiration.

Join the Chilliwack Community Arts Council to explore Anne Vivier-Manceau and Mehtap Kizilirmak’s show, Origins, from Feb. 17 to March 20.

A free-to-attend artist meet-and-greet will be held on Friday, Feb. 17 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Chilliwack Community Arts Council (20 – 5725 Vedder Rd.). Guests will have the opportunity to speak with the artists and learn more about their artistic processes and inspirations.

The gallery is open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more details about the exhibition, call 604-769-2787 or visit the gallery page at chilliwackartscouncil.com.